John 1:1-18
Jesus is the ultimate revelation of God. If you were to look up “God” in the dictionary, an appropriate definition would simply be the word Jesus. As John begins his Gospel here in chapter 1 he describes Jesus as the ultimate revelation of God in three ways. The themes begun here are picked up and developed throughout the rest of John’s Gospel.
First, John will present Jesus as the Word. What are the purpose of words but to communicate and explain. That is exactly what Jesus does. He communicates and explains God to us. Next John describes Jesus as the light. Light illuminates and exposes the world around us so we can see and understand our surroundings. Jesus illuminates the truth of God to us. Lastly John discusses Jesus as a revealed gift that you will either receive or reject.
In John 1:1-3 first symbolizes Jesus as the Word.
1-3 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
Going back to the beginning of time, we find that the Word was already there. If there is any doubt John is referring to Jesus here, jumping ahead to 1:14 will completely remove it. See also John 17:5 in Jesus’ high priestly prayer. Not only was the Word with God, the Word also was God. Here we have an explicit reference to the Christian understanding of the Trinity. It consists of three persons eternally distinct yet one God. Something we can’t fully comprehend but is true nonetheless. We also see here that all things were made through the Word. He is not just another part of creation. Jesus is not a created being but the actual Creator. Even at the beginning of time Jesus was performing His role of revealing God by creating the world and nature. The Bible teaches nature itself is a declaration of who God is – Romans 1:19-20 and Psalm 19.
Next Jesus is portrayed as light in 1:4-9.
4-9 - In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light. There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.
In Jesus was life and His life is the light that shines forth God’s character. His life illuminates God’s truth to mankind and shows us what God is like. In verse five most Bible translations say “the darkness did not comprehend it”. The original Greek word is katalambano which could be translated to English as “comprehend” or “overpower”, depending on the context in which it’s used. It’s difficult to know for sure which way it should be translated here since John is using so much symbolism. Some think John is saying that darkness is no match for the light. The darkness could do nothing to prevent the light from shining forth. Others think it is more connected to verses 10-11 in that most didn’t accept the light. Both concepts are true because the Bible teaches both of those things elsewhere. The question is “which concept is John referring to here?” That we don’t know for sure.
John the Baptist had been telling everyone that The Light was coming. His job was to tell people about this light so that all would believe in Him when He arrived. He repeatedly told people he was not The Light but was preparing the way for the true light that was soon coming into the world. This light is available to enlighten every person and in fact is offered to every man, woman, and child. But, as we’ll see in verses 1:10-13, this light is a gift that you either receive or reject. See 2 Corinthians 4:3-6 for an elaboration of the light concept.
In verses 10-13 all human kind is divided into two groups; those that reject this light and those that receive it.
10-13 - He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
All people have strayed from God since the first two people created by God disobeyed Him in the Garden of Eden. This singular event is the direct cause of the troubled world we live in today. The situation was so dire that when Jesus appeared on the scene His own creatures didn’t even recognize Him. Most of His own people didn’t even accept Him. John here is referring to the Jewish nation. God chose to work in a special way amongst these people who descended from Abraham as recorded in the Old Testament. Even these most privileged people, for the most part, did not receive the light.
But those who do receive Him become the children of God. Contrary to many bumper stickers, we aren’t all God’s children by default. But we can BECOME His child by receiving, believing, trusting in Jesus. Are those that put their faith in Jesus better people than those that don’t? Absolutely not. The is because faith is not a way to earn forgiveness and a place in heaven. If you could earn God’s forgiveness by doing good things, being nice, or obeying the 10 commandments; then someone could boast about an accomplishment like that.
But faith in Jesus isn’t like that; it’s not a work that we do to earn God’s love but a way to receive His love as a free gift. Faith means putting your trust in Jesus as your personal Savior; that He lived a perfect life for you and then died in your place taking the punishment that you deserve. When someone does this John says here they are then born of God spiritually into His family as His child. John contrasts this “spiritual birth” with the normal “physical birth” we’re familiar with; it’s not of blood, the will of the flesh, or the will of man. It is of God.
In the last five verses of this section, 14-18, John ties these three analogies together to show how Jesus reveals God’s nature.
14-18 - And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John testified about Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.'" For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.
God became a man and lived among us. When people physically saw Jesus and how He lived His life, they were seeing the glory of God. Not that there was a visible shine around His head like the old paintings show. The glory they saw was His grace and truth; how He treated others, what He taught, the things He did, His unselfish love that took Him to the cross to die for your sins. Jesus is also the light that John the Baptist said was coming. He’s greater than John the Baptist because He existed before him. As we saw, He was already in existence at the beginning of time. He is eternal.
John contrasts Jesus with Moses who gave us the Law. The Law is most commonly known nowadays by the 10 Commandments. These ten moral commands are actually just a summary of almost 700 laws God gave to Moses. Besides providing legal structure for the newly formed Jewish nation, the Law is a teacher that instructs and leads us to Jesus. This is because the 10 Commandments (or the Law) put you in a bad spot. No one can keep all of the Law all of the time. The Pharisees during Jesus day thought they could but it was just an outward conformance, not an internal purity of heart. For example, in Matthew 5 Jesus explains it’s not good enough to never commit adultery physically. He says whoever looks at someone with lust has already committed adultery in their heart. The Law condemns us ALL.
The Law is the perfect standard of righteousness that shows us our hearts are not perfect. It condemns us as falling short of God’s requirement. This condemnation is what turns many off from Christianity. We don’t like to be told we are in error, that we are sinners. When Christianity is presented only as rules to follow most people reject it because it isn’t long before they realize they just can’t do the right thing all the time – it’s impossible. But this is exactly the purpose of the Law handed down to us by Moses. It’s supposed to bring us to the point where we cry out “God, I can’t do this, I need help!”
This is where God’s grace through Jesus Christ comes in. Now that the Law taught us that we have made mistakes and need God’s forgiveness, He offers it freely through simple faith in Jesus. That is the very definition of grace; love and mercy we don’t deserve. Read Galatians 3 to see where this line of reasoning is fully played out.
Jesus reveals, declares, and explains completely who God is. He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature (Hebrews 1:1-4). No one has ever seen God. The Bible says some have been given visions of God but no one has ever fully seen Him or fully comprehended His essence. Jesus, God the Son, was sent from God the Father to reveal Him to us. Jesus was able to show us who God was because He had something much better than just a vision. He had an intimate eternal relationship with God the Father from which to explain Him to us.
Jesus is the ultimate revelation of God. If you were to look up “God” in the dictionary, an appropriate definition would simply be the word Jesus. As John begins his Gospel here in chapter 1 he describes Jesus as the ultimate revelation of God in three ways. The themes begun here are picked up and developed throughout the rest of John’s Gospel.
First, John will present Jesus as the Word. What are the purpose of words but to communicate and explain. That is exactly what Jesus does. He communicates and explains God to us. Next John describes Jesus as the light. Light illuminates and exposes the world around us so we can see and understand our surroundings. Jesus illuminates the truth of God to us. Lastly John discusses Jesus as a revealed gift that you will either receive or reject.
In John 1:1-3 first symbolizes Jesus as the Word.
1-3 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
Going back to the beginning of time, we find that the Word was already there. If there is any doubt John is referring to Jesus here, jumping ahead to 1:14 will completely remove it. See also John 17:5 in Jesus’ high priestly prayer. Not only was the Word with God, the Word also was God. Here we have an explicit reference to the Christian understanding of the Trinity. It consists of three persons eternally distinct yet one God. Something we can’t fully comprehend but is true nonetheless. We also see here that all things were made through the Word. He is not just another part of creation. Jesus is not a created being but the actual Creator. Even at the beginning of time Jesus was performing His role of revealing God by creating the world and nature. The Bible teaches nature itself is a declaration of who God is – Romans 1:19-20 and Psalm 19.
Next Jesus is portrayed as light in 1:4-9.
4-9 - In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light. There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.
In Jesus was life and His life is the light that shines forth God’s character. His life illuminates God’s truth to mankind and shows us what God is like. In verse five most Bible translations say “the darkness did not comprehend it”. The original Greek word is katalambano which could be translated to English as “comprehend” or “overpower”, depending on the context in which it’s used. It’s difficult to know for sure which way it should be translated here since John is using so much symbolism. Some think John is saying that darkness is no match for the light. The darkness could do nothing to prevent the light from shining forth. Others think it is more connected to verses 10-11 in that most didn’t accept the light. Both concepts are true because the Bible teaches both of those things elsewhere. The question is “which concept is John referring to here?” That we don’t know for sure.
John the Baptist had been telling everyone that The Light was coming. His job was to tell people about this light so that all would believe in Him when He arrived. He repeatedly told people he was not The Light but was preparing the way for the true light that was soon coming into the world. This light is available to enlighten every person and in fact is offered to every man, woman, and child. But, as we’ll see in verses 1:10-13, this light is a gift that you either receive or reject. See 2 Corinthians 4:3-6 for an elaboration of the light concept.
In verses 10-13 all human kind is divided into two groups; those that reject this light and those that receive it.
10-13 - He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
All people have strayed from God since the first two people created by God disobeyed Him in the Garden of Eden. This singular event is the direct cause of the troubled world we live in today. The situation was so dire that when Jesus appeared on the scene His own creatures didn’t even recognize Him. Most of His own people didn’t even accept Him. John here is referring to the Jewish nation. God chose to work in a special way amongst these people who descended from Abraham as recorded in the Old Testament. Even these most privileged people, for the most part, did not receive the light.
But those who do receive Him become the children of God. Contrary to many bumper stickers, we aren’t all God’s children by default. But we can BECOME His child by receiving, believing, trusting in Jesus. Are those that put their faith in Jesus better people than those that don’t? Absolutely not. The is because faith is not a way to earn forgiveness and a place in heaven. If you could earn God’s forgiveness by doing good things, being nice, or obeying the 10 commandments; then someone could boast about an accomplishment like that.
But faith in Jesus isn’t like that; it’s not a work that we do to earn God’s love but a way to receive His love as a free gift. Faith means putting your trust in Jesus as your personal Savior; that He lived a perfect life for you and then died in your place taking the punishment that you deserve. When someone does this John says here they are then born of God spiritually into His family as His child. John contrasts this “spiritual birth” with the normal “physical birth” we’re familiar with; it’s not of blood, the will of the flesh, or the will of man. It is of God.
In the last five verses of this section, 14-18, John ties these three analogies together to show how Jesus reveals God’s nature.
14-18 - And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John testified about Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.'" For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.
God became a man and lived among us. When people physically saw Jesus and how He lived His life, they were seeing the glory of God. Not that there was a visible shine around His head like the old paintings show. The glory they saw was His grace and truth; how He treated others, what He taught, the things He did, His unselfish love that took Him to the cross to die for your sins. Jesus is also the light that John the Baptist said was coming. He’s greater than John the Baptist because He existed before him. As we saw, He was already in existence at the beginning of time. He is eternal.
John contrasts Jesus with Moses who gave us the Law. The Law is most commonly known nowadays by the 10 Commandments. These ten moral commands are actually just a summary of almost 700 laws God gave to Moses. Besides providing legal structure for the newly formed Jewish nation, the Law is a teacher that instructs and leads us to Jesus. This is because the 10 Commandments (or the Law) put you in a bad spot. No one can keep all of the Law all of the time. The Pharisees during Jesus day thought they could but it was just an outward conformance, not an internal purity of heart. For example, in Matthew 5 Jesus explains it’s not good enough to never commit adultery physically. He says whoever looks at someone with lust has already committed adultery in their heart. The Law condemns us ALL.
The Law is the perfect standard of righteousness that shows us our hearts are not perfect. It condemns us as falling short of God’s requirement. This condemnation is what turns many off from Christianity. We don’t like to be told we are in error, that we are sinners. When Christianity is presented only as rules to follow most people reject it because it isn’t long before they realize they just can’t do the right thing all the time – it’s impossible. But this is exactly the purpose of the Law handed down to us by Moses. It’s supposed to bring us to the point where we cry out “God, I can’t do this, I need help!”
This is where God’s grace through Jesus Christ comes in. Now that the Law taught us that we have made mistakes and need God’s forgiveness, He offers it freely through simple faith in Jesus. That is the very definition of grace; love and mercy we don’t deserve. Read Galatians 3 to see where this line of reasoning is fully played out.
Jesus reveals, declares, and explains completely who God is. He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature (Hebrews 1:1-4). No one has ever seen God. The Bible says some have been given visions of God but no one has ever fully seen Him or fully comprehended His essence. Jesus, God the Son, was sent from God the Father to reveal Him to us. Jesus was able to show us who God was because He had something much better than just a vision. He had an intimate eternal relationship with God the Father from which to explain Him to us.
